Jan. 13, 2016, 10:52 a.m.

With soft-spoken but undeniably tart words, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley vaulted onto the national stage Tuesday night for the second time in less than a year, going after both President Obama and presidential candidates in her own Republican Party. The question left unanswered: Did she do herself good or harm — or both — in her response to the president’s State of the Union address?

Some Democrats watching Haley’s speech — which followed Obama’s final State of the Union of his presidency — praised her, albeit largely because of her explicit criticism of her party. Republicans seemed split, with some embracing her remarks and others put out that she used the significant platform to tweak her own party and its candidates.

At the very least, if Haley increased her standing in the illusory vice presidential sweepstakes of some candidates, she took herself off front-runner Donald Trump’s short list.

Jan. 13, 2016, 8:34 p.m.

More super PAC money has been spent promoting Jeb Bush than any other candidate in the 2016 presidential race.

But to hear Bush tell it, he hasn’t been paying much attention.

He said Wednesday he wasn’t concerned about complaints from Republican rival Marco Rubio that attack ads funded with that super PAC money were hurting the party — and that voters would figure things out.

Jan. 13, 2016, 2:56 p.m.

For Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the endorsement of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a firebrand conservative who is popular on the far right, was a boost to his campaign in the crowded GOP presidential field.

But with such an endorsement can also come baggage. That was the case Wednesday when King commented not only on the conservative credentials of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, but on her looks as well.

"I think she’s beautiful,” said King, according to the Associated Press, when talking about Haley, who delivered the GOP rebuttal Tuesday night to President Obama's State of the Union address.

Jan. 13, 2016, 1:19 p.m.

The attacks have come in numerous television interviews and before thousands at GOP rallies, but Donald Trump's questioning of Ted Cruz's eligibility to become president appears to have had little sway in a critical place: Iowa.

In what's become a neck-and-neck race between the two candidates to win the Feb.1 caucuses, Trump has sought to raise concerns among Republican voters about Cruz being born in Canada to an American mother and Cuban father.

Jan. 13, 2016, 1:10 p.m.

Well, I’ll fund my campaign.

Hillary Clinton, speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, when asked what she would do with the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot should she have the lucky ticket.

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Jan. 13, 2016, 10:55 a.m.

In April, with the race for president still far away, President Obama used his speech at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner to poke fun at some likely Republican contenders, needling Jeb Bush’s efforts to court Latinos and Ted Cruz’s denial of climate change.

“And,” he added caustically, “Donald Trump is here. Still.”

Jumbo screens showed the billionaire businessman waving affably from a back table. But the idea of a Trump candidacy was the punch line, and the Washington media and political elites packed in the ballroom laughed in appreciation.

Jan. 13, 2016, 5:57 a.m.

As Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders edges closer in the race for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton said she isn’t worried.

Clinton told CNN on Tuesday that the road to the presidency is “hard, long and challenging” for any candidate — herself included.

Clinton reminded CNN host Alisyn Camerota that she campaigned in the 2008 race until June of that year. She said polls don’t offer predictable results, so she doesn’t pay attention to the numbers, including surveys that show Sanders with a sizable lead in New Hampshire and ahead in some in Iowa.

Jan. 13, 2016, 3:10 a.m.

For one last time, President Obama took to the rostrum of the House chamber, observing an old ritual with a new purpose: shaping history.

Obama’s final State of the Union address Tuesday night was no nostalgia trip, though the president and many around him were mindful of its timing, nearly eight years to the day after an Iowa victory launched his unlikely path to the White House.

It was a chance for reflection and a bit of self-congratulation, not least for helping the nation rebound from its worst economic downturn in more than half a century — though he was careful to credit the American people and acknowledge their continued unease.